


Blood in my eye

by Imjustmakingsuffupagain



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Blood, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Gunshot Wounds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:42:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29530740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imjustmakingsuffupagain/pseuds/Imjustmakingsuffupagain
Summary: Set in an AU where your soulmate receives whatever injury or pain that you endure.Din didn't think he had a Match. He never got any cuts or bruises from them. He's taken by surprise when a smartass school teacher's scars match his.
Kudos: 3





	Blood in my eye

I raised the cup to my lips, letting the bitter contents slide down my throat. As I placed the cup on the bar I noticed a bruise forming on my wrist. It ached to the bone and I hoped my wrist wasn't about to snap. The bruise grew darker and my skin looked raw and dug in at points. Dammit. Handcuffs. They were breaking the wrist.  
Most people share a cut from shaving or a bruise from stubbing their toe. Not me, my soulmate was constantly being beat to shit. I often wondered as I lay in the ice bath I would need most nights, what they did. Why do this? Why keep doing it when you know your soulmate feels the same pain?  
They hadn't been in handcuffs much, but almost every time their wrists were broken to escape.  
"Can I get the strongest shot you got please? This is going to kriffing hurt." I grumbled to the hospitality droid. It set the glass with dark black liquid in front of me. I took a deep breath and threw back.  
"Oh damn!" I grimaced. Before I could put the glass on the counter it snapped. I screamed as my hand flopped at a disgusting angle. I threw credits at the droid and made my way back to my apartment. I knew all I had to do was set, it take a painkiller and it would be mostly healed by the morning. Most of the wounds would fade, I did hate how many scars we had gotten. For every scar they had, I had one to match. I gave them only two. I had a scar on my forearm from running through a barbed wire fence. The other on my thigh, my father liked to discipline with his rings on. Bastard.  
I was a teacher. The amount of injuries in my line of work is not much. Fairly safe in comparison to whatever they did. Hard to explain to my students why I was so bruised.  
As I set my wrist, ready to just go to bed, I wished I could tell whoever's they were to take a break. Just chill out for a day. I was exhausted every day. At least I would sleep well tonight, the painkillers always helped me pass out.  
When I woke up, my wrist was much better. Still very bruised, but not broken. At least my injuries didn't last very long. I got dressed and made my way to the school.  
"Miss Cal! You have to come see!" One of my students said running up and grabbing my hand.  
" what's going on?"  
" we got a visitor this morning! A Mandalorian! You have to see his armour, it's so cool!" The boy said tugging my arm in the direction of a sad looking ship.  
"Benny, go back to the schoolhouse please." I ushered him away. The sound of boots on the ramp made me flinch.  
" who are you?" A deep, mechanical voice asked. I looked up to see the mandalorian hover over me. Just a smidge taller.  
" I am so sorry, I didn't mean to bother you. I'm Yara Cal. My students got very excited to see you. We don't get visitors here often." I smiled up at him. He looked at me long and hard. It felt like he was looking for something.  
" do you have a mechanic?"  
"Oh...um, yes. He is right down the end of the street." He gave a nod and walked away. I made a bemused face and headed to school.  
It was near impossible to get the kids to focus all day. They wanted to know everything about the mysterious visitor. I dismissed them early. I was tired, my wrist still hurt and I needed to grade homework anyway.  
By the time I finished grading, the sun was just about set. I made my way to the canteen, ordering my usual. Everyone was talking in hushed tones, all eyes on the man in the helmet. I took my drink and went to his table.  
"Find what you needed?" I asked.  
"Yes. He'll do a decent enough job." I noticed no drink in front of him.  
"Do you often sit in canteens for no reason?" I laughed.  
"I'm not sitting here for no reason. Just waiting." He said.  
" do you want company while you wait?" I offered.  
" you don't need to do this. I'm fine on my own."  
"Then you can keep me company." I said sitting down. I rolled my sleeves up and took a sip of my drink. The mandalorian visor looked at my wrist. Before I could explain he reached out and grabbed it.  
"When did you get this?" He asked, frantic.  
"I um...yesterday. my soulmate seems to have a pension for getting into sticky situations." I said. His hands went to the edge of his own sleeve, about to roll it up when the doors rushed open. His attention immediately turned to the man walking in.  
The mandalorian pulled out his blaster and shot the man in the leg. The man fell with a scream. I jumped back, scrambling to get out of the way.  
"No! Please! I just followed orders!" The man yelled as mando picked him up and dragged him out of the canteen. A silence fell over the whole place. More action than most of us had ever seen.  
I grew up in a rough part of the universe. I had seen bounty hunters take their prize before. I had to admit, it had been a while since I had seen violence like that. It threw me for a moment. But then I just kept wondering why the mandalorian was so interested in my wrist injury. Was it him? After all this time, and I get a fucking bounty hunter. Yeah, this will end well.  
I made my way to his ship, still in the mechanics shop. I just wanted to know if he was my match or not. My hands were shaking. That's weird, they don't shake often. Okay, but do I knock on the ramp door or what? How does one knock on a ship? I'm just gonna knock on the ramp door and see what happens. I slammed my good hand on the ship a few times and scrambled back.  
The doors slowly opened and the mandalorian was standing there, hip cocked a bit. He hates me already, I can tell. Oh, what was it that my doctor said? Stop assuming you can read minds and stop assuming people's feelings as a defense mechanism to get yourself out of situations that you have to grow through. I hate that she is always right.  
"Um...hello again. Uh...looks like you'll be eating good later!" I gave nervous laugh. Why do stupid things poor out of my mouth all the time?  
"Do you need something? I'm getting ready to leave." He sighed.  
"Right, yeah. Um, I was just wondering if you could maybe show me your right arm? It's not a kink I swear!" The mandalorian was silent for a while. Made my skin crawl. He walked down the ramp towards me and rolled up his sleeve.  
" show me yours then." He said. I looked up at him in shock. I rolled up my sleeve and showed him the scar that matched his. He looked down and back to me and to his own arm and back to me again.  
"That's not possible. No, I don't get a Match." He said yanking his sleeve down.  
" what do you mean? Everyone has a match." I said looking at him confused.  
"I'm not...I don't...you never gave me anything. I thought you were dead." He said, almost as if he was accusing me of something.  
"I'm...sorry? I don't know what you want. I'm a teacher, not a lot of workplace violence." I crossed my arms, this was not going well.  
" No...I just would have maybe...I don't know, been more careful. You're a teacher? Really?" He cocked his head to the side.  
"Some of us don't want to be violent. It's an important job."  
"No, it is. I wasn't making fun. It's just not what I thought you would be. It's a...nice job." He said, fidgeting with his glove.  
" I wanted to do something good. After all this galaxy has been through, I wanted to put some good back in."  
"There has to be a mistake. Can that happen? I don't think you're supposed to be my Match. You're...you still have hope." He said walking back into his ship. I ran up the ramp to follow him.  
"Hey! You don't get to just leave. We need to talk about this!" I yelled grabbing his wrist, both of us hissed in pain. "Sorry."  
"I heard there is a place in the far reaches that you can get the tether cut without anyone dying." He grumbled.  
"WHAT!? No! You don't get to decide that! We've known each other for five minutes! Am I so bad already?" His head snapped to look at me.  
"No, no it's not about you. I shouldn't have a Match. My life isn't easy, I'm not...I've done some bad things. You deserve better than what I can give, what I have given you." He sat in his seat at the console. He was upset he hurt me. There was hope.  
"I've done bad things too. I don't know where you've gotten this idea that I'm somehow better than you, I am absolutely not."  
"I've killed people. I am a bounty hunter, I make profit off others suffering."  
"I've killed people too. Don't be so moody about it." I shrugged.  
"When have you killed someone?"  
"The night I got that scar on our arm. Was out studying late. Was walking home and a couple of guys didn't like hearing no, ran through a barbed wire fence trying to get away.. It was me or them and I chose them. I'd do it again." I stood, looking at him, waiting for emotions I was never going to see. I watched as he clenched his fist.  
"Well, what do you propose we do?" He finally said.  
"Maybe we could just get to know each other? You said you were leaving, where?" I asked sitting across from him  
"No, you can't come with. I don't go to nice places. It's too dangerous."  
"You can't just walk away from this. And stop thinking I'm such a helpless wimp. I can handle myself." I growled.  
"Look-" he was cut off by the sound of whispers just outside the ship. He got up and ran out of the cockpit. I chased after him.  
On the ramp were two men with large blasters on their hips. I recognized them immediately. The town con men, always trying to swindle someone out of credits. The mandalorian stood at the top of the ramp, his blaster pointed at them.  
"Get off my ship." He growled. The men stopped in their tracks for a moment before laughing.  
"Now, you're in our town here. You ain't the one gonna be making demands. I know how much that shiny beskar can get. I'm thinking we can take you."  
"You two get the hell of this ship and go home before I tell your mother what you've been up to. Honestly James, have some self respect. And Thomas, you know better." I scolded.  
"I can handle them" the mandalorian said to me.  
"I know, just thought they might just leave if they knew I was here." I shrugged.  
"That teacher needs to learn to shut her pretty mouth." James spat.  
"You-"  
"Don't talk about her like that or I will toss your useless bodies in a sarlac pit." The mandalorian's grip on his blaster tightened.  
"Aw, you got a soft spot for her. Cute, maybe she's better than she looks. Let us have a spin." James started walking toward me, but was met with a blaster to the leg. He went falling hard to the ground. The mandalorian pushed me to the side as Thomas started firing. Mando shot him in the leg then the arm. James grabbed his blaster and landed a shot to Mando's leg. A one in a million shot, hitting where the armour didn't fully cover.  
"Dammit James!" I yelled as my leg started to sting and bleed.  
"Oh. I see now. The bitch is your Match!" James laughed. Mando shot him in the torso, ending the laughter. Thomas gathered up his brother and ran off the ship.  
"You do lead an interesting life at least." I chuckled. The mandalorian came over and looked at my leg.  
"Come on. I can patch that up." He said helping me up.  
"I need patching because you do. Let me patch you up first."  
"It's fine. I'll be fine." He said helping me sit in the chair in the cockpit.  
"We both know residuals aren't as bad as the original." I grabbed the first aid kit he had pulled out and picked up his leg before he could argue.  
"I'm sorry. That you got shot. And for just thinking I could cut the tether without you." He sighed.  
"It's okay. The shots I'm used to. The leaving, I'm also used to. It was my first instinct when you started bounty hunting. I thought you had to be a bad guy. But then I realized, if you were we wouldn't be matched. I needed to let the galaxy show me what I needed from you." I smiled up at him as I finished with the bacta spray on his leg, turning it to my own wound.  
"Look...I have to go to my next job. Maybe we can see how this goes. You know how to handle a blaster, right?"  
"Yeah, I can handle a blaster. I can handle a lot of things." I winked. I wished I could see his face. It was so hard to read him with no facial expressions.  
"Um...okay. good. You should go pack. I have to pay the mechanic." He got up and left. I chuckled and went to my house to pack.  
I threw everything in my bag and ran to the school. I told the headmaster I had a family emergency and wasn't sure when I'd be back. Everything was happening fast and it was so exciting. I didn't feel an ounce of regret or guilt for leaving. I had a whole new adventure in front of me. I didn't think I'd have another adventure.  
When I got back to the ship the ramp was open and I walked to the cockpit. I threw my bag in the corner. Mando came in and sat in his chair. There was a feeling of uncertainty in the air.  
"You're sure you want to do this? I'm not going to stop doing my job because we're a Match. This isn't an easy life. Sometimes I can go weeks without a shower. I'm in bad situations most of the time." He was nervous rambling.  
"I know. I can handle myself. If I can't, well then you can send me on the next ship back. But, I think we should at least get to know each other. I've been covered in your wounds my whole life, I deserve that much. So, why don't we start with your name?"  
"My name is Din Djarin" he said as he started up the ship.  
"I like it. It suits you, I don't know why yet, but it does."  
"Yara...is nice" he said. I tried to stifle the giggle at his attempt to return the compliment.  
"Wait...so you don't feel my cramps? I thought we shared all pain?" I said, finally realizing he should have thought I was alive from that alone.  
"Is that what that is!? I thought...I don't know what I thought. I thought ate something bad or pulled something." He shook his head.  
"You thought you ate something bad or pulled a muscle the same time every month?" I didn't even try to hold back the giggle.  
"I didn't realize it was scheduled. I'm sorry...they are very uncomfortable." He said.  
"You don't need to apologize so much. You're allowed to be wrong sometimes." I said as I got comfortable in my seat. I had seen the stars more than most, but it still took my breath away when I saw the galaxy in all its glory.


End file.
